I had my motor fail on my bmw 2011 e92 about 8 months ago because I decided to go 15000 miles without a oil change. I was told that's when it's recommend. So long story short I got a P054b code before the engine went out. It started making the most obnoxious screeching noise, when I was trying to at least get the car to a safe place to pull over. I was on the freeway when it failed. So ended up being a spark plug got pulled thru the pistons and it completely sheared my vanos somehow. I'm not a mechanic sorry for my vague description, but I ended up getting a motor put in the vehicle and everything was fine. After about a few months the same code P054b ended up popping up and I was across town from my house when it popped up when I got it checked. So everything was running fine no misfires or anything so I made the call to drive it home. On my way home the check engine light ended up just going away. So I figured it was just my car acting funny due to having a different motor. I was told by the shop that put the motor in my car sometimes the bmw has to re learn things. So the same light ended up popping up 3 months after the last incident but the same thing happened it went away after a few miles of driving. Yesterday the same code has got logged into my service engine soon I'm starting to wonder now if possibly my timing is off. I don't have a clue I've read it could be something silly like a vanos solenoid being dirty. I'm beginning to really worry this motor might go out even tho it doesn't have the same symptoms exactly as the last motor had but it's showing the same code. This code from yesterday hasn't popped off I'm about to take it to a bmw Mechanic soon. Any thoughts or ideas?

Being late to an oil change would end up causing the need for an engine swap?? That's the first time I've heard of such a thing.

I guess when the engine has bad oil it creates all kinds of havoc on the motor. I'm just so frustrated at this point almost feel as if I got a lemon or something I bought the car with 43k miles and the engine went out around 58k

'B' Camshaft Position - Timing Over-Retarded (Bank 1). (You're car just went full retard... You never go full retard or else the engine will fail.)

Clean your vanos solenoids or replace them.. IF still an issue then replace the VANOS actuator.

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You can detect right away those that are going to be shaky, and that will fall behind and those that are very hungry, and that hunger you will have to develop. You gotta create a goal for yourself whatever that may be, a short term goal and a long term goal and you gotta go after that. And if you donít see it, and if you donít believe it, who else will?Arnold Schwarzenegger

What if my check engine light turned off do you think I should still go and mess with the solenoids?

The fact it keeps coming back means something is triggering it... I would say they are just probably dirty (vanos solenoids)

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You can detect right away those that are going to be shaky, and that will fall behind and those that are very hungry, and that hunger you will have to develop. You gotta create a goal for yourself whatever that may be, a short term goal and a long term goal and you gotta go after that. And if you donít see it, and if you donít believe it, who else will?Arnold Schwarzenegger

What if my check engine light turned off do you think I should still go and mess with the solenoids?

Not to be rude, but if you keep to 15,000 mile service intervals you are going to see a lot of those lights.

If you spend any time reading about these motors, you will quickly learn that the 15,000 Mile service interval is as much crap as the lifetime transmission fluid.

Is sound like the Vanos system on your second engine is acting up. Usually from dirty solenoids or filter but not always. Get this problem corrected by someone who knows BMW and make sure you use the correct engine oil and service intervals. There are very few oils that have the correct properties to work in these engines. I think the advice on these forums has a service interval range between 5,000 and 10,000 miles. I had my oil analysed at 7,5000 miles and setup my service interval based on the reports.

Search the forums and you will find more than enough information on this subject. Please don't start a new thread until you have done some basic homework.

Not to be rude, but if you keep to 15,000 mile service intervals you are going to see a lot of those lights.

If you spend any time reading about these motors, you will quickly learn that the 15,000 Mile service interval is as much crap as the lifetime transmission fluid.

Is sound like the Vanos system on your second engine is acting up. Usually from dirty solenoids or filter but not always. Get this problem corrected by someone who knows BMW and make sure you use the correct engine oil and service intervals. There are very few oils that have the correct properties to work in these engines. I think the advice on these forums has a service interval range between 5,000 and 10,000 miles. I had my oil analysed at 7,5000 miles and setup my service interval based on the reports.

Search the forums and you will find more than enough information on this subject. Please don't start a new thread until you have done some basic homework.

Good advice here.

Oil should be changed between 5 and 7k miles.

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You can detect right away those that are going to be shaky, and that will fall behind and those that are very hungry, and that hunger you will have to develop. You gotta create a goal for yourself whatever that may be, a short term goal and a long term goal and you gotta go after that. And if you donít see it, and if you donít believe it, who else will?Arnold Schwarzenegger

Not to be rude, but if you keep to 15,000 mile service intervals you are going to see a lot of those lights.

If you spend any time reading about these motors, you will quickly learn that the 15,000 Mile service interval is as much crap as the lifetime transmission fluid.

Is sound like the Vanos system on your second engine is acting up. Usually from dirty solenoids or filter but not always. Get this problem corrected by someone who knows BMW and make sure you use the correct engine oil and service intervals. There are very few oils that have the correct properties to work in these engines. I think the advice on these forums has a service interval range between 5,000 and 10,000 miles. I had my oil analysed at 7,5000 miles and setup my service interval based on the reports.

Search the forums and you will find more than enough information on this subject. Please don't start a new thread until you have done some basic homework.

I never said that I continued waiting for 15000 miles before a oil change. It was a one time thing. I do oil changes every 5000 miles so ur rude reply isn't needed. Who are you to tell me to not start a new thread and I did search on the topic and couldn't find anything about the service engine light coming on and off

I never said that I continued waiting for 15000 miles before a oil change. It was a one time thing. I do oil changes every 5000 miles so ur rude reply isn't needed. Who are you to tell me to not start a new thread and I did search on the topic and couldn't find anything about the service engine light coming on and off

No need for fighting here guys... Dude just clean your solenoids.. If they are still triggering the code then have the shop replace them. If they got and installed the motor then this is on them.

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You can detect right away those that are going to be shaky, and that will fall behind and those that are very hungry, and that hunger you will have to develop. You gotta create a goal for yourself whatever that may be, a short term goal and a long term goal and you gotta go after that. And if you donít see it, and if you donít believe it, who else will?Arnold Schwarzenegger

The fact it keeps coming back means something is triggering it... I would say they are just probably dirty (vanos solenoids)

It's comes on like every 3 4 months and then just goes away. The same thing happened today. I'm just going to order new vanos solenoid as well as a new camshaft position sensor hopefully this fixes the issue. It's weird because the performance of the engine doesn't change at all it doesn't misfire or lag or anything.

No need for fighting here guys... Dude just clean your solenoids.. If they are still triggering the code then have the shop replace them. If they got and installed the motor then this is on them.

I'm not trying to fight that wasn't my intention. I just genuinely wanted to see if anyone had some helpful input. Not for some guy to flame me over something I couldn't find information on. I appreciate your help tho. I'll try to do what you recommended see if it changes the issue

I never said that I continued waiting for 15000 miles before a oil change. It was a one time thing. I do oil changes every 5000 miles so ur rude reply isn't needed. Who are you to tell me to not start a new thread and I did search on the topic and couldn't find anything about the service engine light coming on and off

Sorry if you took offence.

Its a busy day for me and I could have worded the message a little differently.

I've been using mobile 1 5w 30 synthetic. Is that a good oil for our vehicles? I was told since I'm in Arizona that instead of doing a 0w 40 I should do a 5w 30

5w30 is the oil BMW is now using for most of the cars... Just make sure to check that the oil you are getting is LL-1.

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You can detect right away those that are going to be shaky, and that will fall behind and those that are very hungry, and that hunger you will have to develop. You gotta create a goal for yourself whatever that may be, a short term goal and a long term goal and you gotta go after that. And if you donít see it, and if you donít believe it, who else will?Arnold Schwarzenegger

If you want to know why your service engine light is coming on and turning off you need to pull the codes. Without codes it could be a million different things and we are ALL guessing what will solve it without codes.

He did scan for codes and got

P054b, which is what i posted about above.

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You can detect right away those that are going to be shaky, and that will fall behind and those that are very hungry, and that hunger you will have to develop. You gotta create a goal for yourself whatever that may be, a short term goal and a long term goal and you gotta go after that. And if you donít see it, and if you donít believe it, who else will?Arnold Schwarzenegger

Sounds like your first motor was likely going to go regardless of the oil change interval. Sucking in spark plugs is not a failure associated with old/bad/sludged oil. I'd say you just got the runt of the litter. That's a bummer and truly sorry to hear.

Many members on here have been fine with ~15k mile oil changes. If your car meets the old world standard "severe" usage (city, stop and go, short trips) then maybe shorten it to your liking, the phases of the moon, or consult your horoscope just as the rest of us are doing :-) Mine gets driven in the city on short trips. I'll be doing 7,500 mile changes bc it's cheap and helps me sleep at night.

Follow the advice given with regards to your Vanos Solenoids. Should be a quick test and subsequent repair.

Sounds like your first motor was likely going to go regardless of the oil change interval. Sucking in spark plugs is not a failure associated with old/bad/sludged oil. I'd say you just got the runt of the litter. That's a bummer and truly sorry to hear.

Many members on here have been fine with ~15k mile oil changes. If your car meets the old world standard "severe" usage (city, stop and go, short trips) then maybe shorten it to your liking, the phases of the moon, or consult your horoscope just as the rest of us are doing :-) Mine gets driven in the city on short trips. I'll be doing 7,500 mile changes bc it's cheap and helps me sleep at night.

Follow the advice given with regards to your Vanos Solenoids. Should be a quick test and subsequent repair.

Best of luck in the future, too!

Ya that's what I was honestly thinking which truly sux because I was hoping to get great usage out of this vehicle. The worst part about all of this is I just invested 5k in new wheels,tires,coilovers,camber arms,etc so if my car is going to take another dump this sux. At the end of the day tho if anything does happen to this motor,I will just probably replace it I feel too invested into my car. I found a motor with 25k miles on it online for roughly 2k so for around 3k I can get it put in.

Ya that's what I was honestly thinking which truly sux because I was hoping to get great usage out of this vehicle. The worst part about all of this is I just invested 5k in new wheels,tires,coilovers,camber arms,etc so if my car is going to take another dump this sux. At the end of the day tho if anything does happen to this motor,I will just probably replace it I feel too invested into my car. I found a motor with 25k miles on it online for roughly 2k so for around 3k I can get it put in.

Yeah, timing is always brutal with these large failure it seems. She sounds like she handles really well, tho!

I would just a moratorium on car spending for few years and this way your inner car brain will be fine with the money you laid out. I agree, that it's now time to get your money back out of the car by driving it and enjoying.

I don't want to jinx you, but two failed N52s is something I don't think anyone has experienced. You may also might want to think about a garage change. I'm not saying your old one wasn't good, but search reviews online and take a look around. Going somewhere else may give you no more than a warm fuzzy, but a warm fuzzy with a car is a good thing to have.

There are tons of you tube vids on how to do the 'easy' repairs on these cars, too. Check em out and save more. That'll make up for the other stuff.

You can detect right away those that are going to be shaky, and that will fall behind and those that are very hungry, and that hunger you will have to develop. You gotta create a goal for yourself whatever that may be, a short term goal and a long term goal and you gotta go after that. And if you donít see it, and if you donít believe it, who else will?Arnold Schwarzenegger